Theory of Pygmalion effect and S.M.A.R.T goals

“High achievement always takes place in the framework of high expectation.” — Charles Kettering

Successful managers have high expectations, both of themselves and their team. These expectations are powerful, because they’re the frames in which people fit reality. We often see what we expect, rather than what is actually occurring.

Social psychologists have referred to this as the self-fulfilling prophecy or the Pygmalion effect. In Greek mythology, the sculptor Pygmalion carved a statue of a beautiful woman, fell in love with the statue and brought it to life by the strength of his perceptions. Many managers play Pygmalion-like roles in developing people. In addition, great managers tend to not give up on people, because doing so means giving up on themselves, their judgment, and their ability to get the best out of others.

Key Ideas:

·         The Pygmalion Effect explains that people tend to perform up to the level that others expect of them.

·         This effect explains why our relationships are usually self-fulfilling prophecies. Once you set expectations for somebody, that person will tend to live up to that expectation, whether it’s good or bad.

·         The Pygmalion Effect doesn’t justify having unrealistic expectations of other people. Expecting miracles is a recipe for frustration on both ends.

·         The paradox of the Pygmalion Effect is that having high expectations of people will produce better results, but it’s also more likely you’ll be disappointed. If you’re assessing someone, remember to judge as objectively as possible.

Illustration

Knowingly or unknowingly you might also have been the part of Pygmalion effect in your respective organization. I would like to highlight my manager’s way of getting out the work done without disturbing the equilibrium. Once my team was in crisis when one resource went on a urgency leave. Being a small team contingency was a major problem during crisis situation. As it was a client facing project it was indeed important to maintain the same level of support. So for those 2 weeks period my manager handed over to me of handling the additional responsibility of that resource by inculcating the faith of ‘you can do it’. Expectations were high but it was feasible if dedicated efforts were poured into it. And the result was apparent because as a team we were able to pull it off a daunting task without any major hiccups. With this exercise feeling of handling the project in someone’s absence was built and in later point of time it became an easy task.

High expectation kept us motivated to slog hard and finish it spectacularly. However manager should remain cautious. There is a fine line between realistic high expectation and unrealistic target. Unrealistic target brings in frustration and affects productivity.

Things considered while setting SMART goal

Specific – The first criterion stresses the need for a specific goal over rather than a more general one.

      Measurable – The second criterion stresses the need for concrete criteria for measuring progress toward the attainment of the goal.

         Attainable – The third criterion stresses the importance of goals that are realistic and attainable

         Realistic – The third criterion stresses the importance of goals that are realistic and attainable

         Timely – The fifth criterion stresses the importance of grounding goals within a time frame, giving them a target date.

So what we had discussed in tower building exercise can be followed closely by looking to these attributes of smart goals. Team building tower with blind fold dared to set a goal. Their initial bid was of building the tower with 22 blocks but they ended with a tower having 24 blocks.

Now if you combine the aspects of Pygmalion effect and SMART goals together then the things which are distinctive are as follows:

• As a manager, you have to keep the morale of a team high by motivating and inculcating the faith of ‘you can do it’.
• At the same time, care has to be taken that expectations set are realistic and attainable within the given time frame.

Did I deliver? If yes, the do let me know your feedback.

Thank you.